3 Ways to Make $1 Billion—One You Might Be Able to Do in Your Lifetime
Becoming a millionaire just doesn’t have the cultural cache it once did. To be sure, a million dollars remains a tidy sum and a worthy goal for your retirement or other savings. But to truly announce you’ve made it into the upper reaches of the nation’s moneyed elite, you need at least a billion dollars—nine zeros instead of just six.
Here’s what amassing that kind of wealth looks like for the average person using widely available investment strategies.
Key Takeaways
- Amassing $1 billion on an average salary alone would take more than 16,100 years.
- Compound interest significantly shortens the time required to amass a fortune, even with a modest interest rate.
- Investing to reach $1 billion needn’t be complicated; the S&P 500 outperformed billionaires from 2020 to 2024.
- An index fund investment strategy can result in a nest egg of $1 billion in 71 years.
Earning It
If you chase after a billion dollars solely with wages and no investments, you will have to work for a long time. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average weekly earnings for a full-time worker in the United States was $1,192 per week in the fourth quarter of 2024. That comes out to $61,984 per year. Let’s say you have a second income to cover living expenses and decide to stash your $61,984 annual income under your mattress and make your billion that way.
You’ll have to work and stash your paychecks for 16,134 years before you make your first billion.
In addition to lots of time, you’ll need lots of space for your cash. A billion dollars in $100 bills will be stacked on 10 standard construction pallets, with each pallet being 48 inches by 40 inches.
You can speed things up if you move your money to a bank savings account that pays the current national average interest rate of 0.41%. In that case, you will have saved $1,000,000,000 in 1,029 years. Compound interest is as powerful as they say!
Saving for It
Since compound interest is so helpful, consider moving your annual wages into a high-yield savings account or a certificate of deposit (CD). The annual percentage yields (APYs) for these fluctuate with the economy’s health and the Federal Reserve’s responses. We’ll keep things simple and use the current best rates for a national high-yield savings account and a CD and assume those rates hold for the campaign’s duration. (In reality, they’ll go up and down, but it’s hard to predict how much, especially over generations of economic activity.)
Currently, the best jumbo CDs pay 4.55% in interest. (We chose a jumbo CD because yours will qualify as one in your second year of saving.) With your annual wage and that return, you’ll amass a billion dollars in 149 years.
Meanwhile, the best high-yield savings accounts pay 4.75% interest right now. You’ll only have to wait 144 years for your billion at that rate.
Investing for It
By now, you’re probably convinced that the key to getting a billion dollars is to take advantage of compound interest as aggressively as possible through investing. But not too aggressively. You decide to invest your annual wages into an index fund and choose Fidelity’s FXAIX, one of Investopedia’s top funds tracking the S&P 500. You’ll have broad exposure to the stock market without paying a lot in fees, and you won’t have to worry about rebalancing as the tracked companies’ fortunes rise and fall over time. The index fund’s managers will take care of all that for you.
Can you beat the billionaires? Perhaps surprisingly, you can. From 2020 to 2024, aggregate billionaire wealth in North America grew by 58.5%, from $3.8 trillion to $6.1 trillion, according to the UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report 2024. Over roughly the same period, the S&P 500 index grew 78%, demonstrating the power of U.S. equities markets and the wisdom of index fund investing.
FXAIX has returned 11.02% since its inception in 1988. At that rate of return and annual contributions of $61,984, you will acquire your first billion in 71 years.
| Strategy | Annual Investment | Interest Rate | Total Contributions | Total Interest Earned | Years | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mattress | $61,984 | 0.00% | $1,000,049,856.00 | $0.00 | 16,134 | $1,000,049,856.00 |
| Passbook Savings | $61,984 | 0.41% | $63,781,536.00 | $939,679,759.76 | 1,029 | $1,003,461,295.76 |
| Jumbo CD | $61,984 | 4.55% | $9,235,616.00 | $1,021,093,327.08 | 149 | $1,030,328,943.08 |
| High-Yield Savings | $61,984 | 4.75% | $8,925,696.00 | $1,031,526,660.71 | 144 | $1,040,452,356.71 |
| S&P 500 Index Fund | $61,984 | 11.02% | $4,400,864.00 | $103,635,073.19 | 71 | $1,044,062,234.59 |
A whole lifetime is longer than most average wage earners have to invest, but what a wonderful legacy to pass on to your children or grandchildren! And if they continue to follow your prudent investment strategy, they will double their billion-dollar nest egg to $2 billion by year 78. And four years later (a total of 82 years of patient investing), it will have tripled to $3 billion. It’s true what they say: The first billion is the hardest to get.
What Is Investment Strategy?
Investment strategy is a set of principles designed to help an individual investor achieve their financial and investment goals. This plan is what guides an investor’s decisions based on their age, goals, risk tolerance, and future needs for capital.
What Is a Billionaire?
A billionaire is an individual who has a net worth of at least one billion units of currency, including dollars, pounds, or euros. A billionaire’s net worth can include personal and business assets like cash, cash equivalents, real estate, investments, and other assets.
How Many Billionaires Are There?
The United States had 813 billionaires—the most of any country in the world—worth a combined $5.7 trillion in 2024, the most recent data available, according to the annual Forbes World’s Billionaires List. Worldwide in 2024, there were 2,781 billionaires worth a combined $14.2 trillion.
The Bottom Line
Whether you have 71 years or 16,134, it is possible to become a billionaire like the well-known wealthy such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett.
Besides the above-mentioned investment strategies, other dos for becoming a billionaire include being a successful inventor, being an entrepreneur, and having a business innovation strategy. Don’ts include thinking you know it all, making flashy investments, and giving up too soon.